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Federalism in Action: How Conservative States Got Smart on Crime

Justice reform has become a hot topic on Capitol Hill. Members of Congress from both parties are pushing for substantive reforms that would bring rehabilitative programs to the federal corrections system, modify out-of-date sentencing laws, make communities safer, and reduce burdens on taxpayers. But reform would not be possible if conservative states had not previously paved the road.

Writing in 1932, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandies explained one of the core tenets of the United States' constitutional system. "It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory," he wrote, "and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country." This principle, which we know as "federalism," allows states to test the waters on certain ideas and policies and, perhaps, provide a framework that could be replicated by other states.

In 2007, Texas, a state known for its strong conservative leanings and "tough on crime" stance, implemented a groundbreaking series of reforms to deal with its costly prison system and high incarceration rate. The Lone Star State faced $523 million in immediate prison construction costs and $2 billion in additional costs by 2012. The reforms, which have since been expanded, were overwhelmingly successful, leading to cost savings and significant reductions in crime and recidivism (repeat offender) rates. Georgia has adopted a series of similar reforms, which have had reduced costs and made communities safer. Other conservative states -- including Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Carolina -- have followed suit.

Federalism in Action: How Conservative States Got Smart on Crime provides the FreedomWorks community with an overview of the justice reform efforts in conservative states, focusing primarily on Texas and Georgia. It explains why reducing recidivism is the key to reducing costs and promoting public safety. The publication also notes strong public support for these efforts.

While the movement on justice reform in Congress is long overdue, it is not a new issue. Conservative states have been leading the way for years. The attention to justice reform on Capitol Hill is incredibly important, but it would not have been possible if states had not provided fiscally conservative alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders and rehabilitation to disrupt the cycle of crime for those who do serve time in prison.

On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to support the First Step Act, S. 3649, and to co-sponsor and whip YES when approached by Senate Republican leadership.

On behalf of FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and senators ask them to support and co-sponsor the Retirement Freedom Act, H.R. 6703 and S. 3560, introduced by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). The bill would decouple Social Security benefits from Medicare Part A enrollment, allowing individuals if they so choose to to opt out of Medicare Part A without losing access to their Social Security benefits.

As the 2018 midterm elections approach, voters in all 50 states will cast their ballots for members of Congress and many will cast their ballots for senators. Some ballots will also include measures independent of the national elections. These are, for example, gubernatorial races, as well as ballot initiatives to amend state constitutions.

The effort to reform the federal prison system is gaining a lot of attention. President Donald Trump has expressed support for prison reform on multiple occasions, including a mention in his State of the Union address and, most recently, during a meeting with a group of African-American pastors. President Trump has also expressed a willingness to include sentencing reform in the prison reform bill.

College basketball star Len Bias died of a powder cocaine overdose while celebrating his number one draft pick in the 1986 NBA Draft. Because his death was widely, although mistakenly, thought to be due to a crack cocaine overdose, the public and the federal government responded alike -- with panic about the perceived heightened dangers of crack cocaine. This panic served to advance the national war on drugs that was already well underway.

One sentencing reform provision considered for inclusion in a reform package as part of a deal to move President Trump’s priority legislation, the FIRST STEP Act, through the Senate is a set of modifications to 21 U.S.C. 841, addressing drug penalties for offenses involving controlled and counterfeit substances.

Over the past several months, there has a been a campaign against the FIRST STEP Act, H.R. 5682, waged by a handful of reactionaries whose mindset is better suited for the 1980s. It has been suspected, although not confirmed, that the talking points against the bill were coming from the Department of Justice (DOJ). We now know this to be an indisputable fact.

In 2015, Utah legislators passed and Governor Gary Hulburt signed into law a package, HB 348, to reform its state criminal justice system. This package included new concepts such as prioritizing prison space for people with serious and violent offenses as well as strengthening community supervision, both of which have yielded substantial public safety returns.

Last week, the FIRST STEP Act, federal prison reform legislation sponsored by Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), sailed through the House by a vote of 360-59. The bill would create a risk and needs assessment in federal prisons to guide the implementation of incentivised recidivism-reduction programming for prisoners. More broadly, the legislation is focused on reducing recidivism by aiding reentry into society in multiple ways and implements other measures that contribute to this goal outside of the new programming provisions.